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Updated: 9/10/2005
Land-based sources of marine pollution are the most serious environmental problem in the Mediterranean, accounting for some 75% of the pollution. Israel’s Mediterranean, Red Sea and Dead Sea coasts include some 100 industrial plants, 150 facilities that contribute brines (slaughterhouses, food industries, water softening) and groundwater (cooling waters) and 40 local authorities and/or other sources of wastewater. In recent years, major progress has been made in preventing pollution from land-based sources, including domestic and industrial waste, agricultural runoff and river discharges. In line with regional commitments and national policy, marine protection policy is based on the following objectives: To minimize discharges to sea to the greatest degree possible by reviewing land alternatives such as connection to municipal sewage systems or irrigation reservoirs; To minimize pollutant emissions by installing and operating best available technology; To significantly improve effluent quality by establishing wastewater treatment facilities, introducing innovative technological solutions, recycling at source facilities, and separation of waste streams; To require continuous improvement of wastewater treatment facilities and alternative land solutions, to stipulate conditions and requirements in permits, and to enforce and follow up on results; To permit discharge to sea of wastes which may damage land resources but not the marine environment, such as brines following pretreatment; To permit discharge of authorized wastes through regulated marine outfalls only; To require wastewater quality monitoring and/or marine monitoring.
An amendment to Israel’s Land-Based Sources Law was enacted in June 2005 in order to strengthen the law and bring it into line with the amended Land-Based Protocol of the Barcelona Convention.
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